SEOUL FOREST

 

 

Take a quiet walk with Mother Nature.

It will nurture your mind, body, and soul.

-Anthony Douglas Williams

 

 

I had a whole week long vacation!!! Sadly, I didn't traveling abroad at all, but I did get out and do a couple things (some of which were of the boring adult responsibility kind). But I met up with some friends on Tuesday and we went to Seoul Forest which is comparable to Central Park in New York in the fact that it's a big green area in the middle of the city. There wasn't a ton to do there (which I was expecting but apparently my friend wasn't so she was kind of disappointed), but it was really pretty and it was an awesome break from all the concrete of the city (which I tire of quickly seeing as I am far from being a city girl). They had so many pretty flowers!

And here are just some random photos of all the green. I loved how the place (for the most part) smelled...well, green. The only thing I wasn't too fond of we're the cicadas and all their noise (seriously, it was deafening at certain points). To quote a friend of mine, "They need to learn a new song."

There was this awesome park (I was sorely tempted to go down that slide and then climb back up the wall—I think the fact that I was already dripping sweat was the only thing stopping me). 

And this is just a cool statue of a momma bear and her cub :)

And then we found our way to the deer enclosure. We found this slightly confusing/slightly hilarious (depending on which way you interpret it) sign.

And then we got to feed some deer!!! The guy with the ginormous antlers was a big bully and wouldn't let the girls have any food :(

After the deer feeding fiasco, we walked some more and found a couple interesting things, one being what looked like a giant knife. The other was a nice bridge that we decided to stroll along and it provided some nice views.

 

 

We continued to walk after we left the bride (lots and lots and lots of walking that day). We found a really pretty stream with a little walkway off to the side and decided to wander in that direction.

 

 

There was also this pretty waterfall, though it is pretty small. But I loved the feeling of this place. So peaceful!

 

 

Along our walk, we found a small enclosure with some rabbits and guinea pigs. So adorable! There were even a couple mini bunnies that were just the cutest things you've ever seen. They were behind a wire fence, though, so the pictures aren't the best quality.

 

 

 

They had a nice shaded sitting area that acutally had a bit of a Hawaiian feel to it. Made me homesick for my island paradise.

 

 

And then we have the random exercise machines scattered about the place. It seems to be quite common to have public exercise machines at parks and pretty much any place that is even the least bit park-like even if it is just a patch of green. We even saw a guy bench pressing some weights, but I didn't get a picture of that.

 

 

 

After this, we found a butterfly room. It was even more humid in there than it was outside (if that was even possible). It was pretty humid that day. Maybe it's because it was indoors and there was no breeze. Anyway. This is what we saw in the butterfly room:

 



 

After our short yet sweaty venture through the butterfly room, we went next door to an insect display (though they had more than insects on display as you will soon see).

 

These cacti were all the way up to the ceiling!

Papaya (I think?)!!!!!! It reminded me of Hawaii, so naturally I had to take a photo.

This tortoise was all about the close-up. He (she?) walked
right on over, practically begging to be our model.

 

 

And that was my trip to Seoul Forest! Not super exciting, but it was nice and relaxing :)

 

 

 

I took a walk in the woods

and came out taller

than the trees.

 

Henry David Thoreau